Tulsa Fires Head Coach Kevin Wilson Amid Challenging Football Season

Tulsa has dismissed head coach Kevin Wilson after a challenging season marked by significant losses, according to sources cited by CBS Sports and 247Sports. The termination comes as a response to the Golden Hurricane‘s current record of 3-8, including a recent 63-30 defeat. This brings Wilson’s overall performance at Tulsa to a 7-16 record over his tenure.

Wilson joined Tulsa as head coach in 2022, following his prior positions as head coach at Indiana University and offensive coordinator at Ohio State. In his first year at Tulsa, Wilson led the team to a 4-8 record. The football program had previously experienced its best season in 2016 under the leadership of former coach Philip Montgomery, finishing with a 10-3 record.

This development is part of a broader trend in the American Athletic Conference, where Tulsa is now the sixth institution to dismiss its head coach recently. Other schools such as East Carolina, Charlotte, Rice, Temple, and FAU have similarly made changes in their coaching staff. This wave of firings reflects the competitive and, at times, tumultuous nature of college football, where performance expectations are high.

As the coaching carousel continues, the American Athletic Conference sees significant headway with teams like East Carolina, recognized for its substantial financial resources, leading the choices for top positions. East Carolina, which recently let go of their coach Mike Houston, paid the highest salary in the AAC for a head coach at approximately $2.5 million annually.

While East Carolina and Fresno State are viewed as attractive job openings, sources have indicated that the position at UMass, after the recent dismissal of Don Brown, ranks as one of the least favorable options. This reflects within the wider economic and competitive landscape of college football, where varying resources and institutional support play key roles in the viability and desirability of coaching positions.